Heflin, Donald L., 1958-

<p>Donald L. Heflin (born 1958) is an American diplomat who served as United States Ambassador to Cape Verde from 2015–2018.</p>

<p>Heflin joined the Foreign Service in 1987 and was first posted to Lima, Peru and then, in 1990, to Madras, India. In 1992, Heflin was moved to be deputy principal officer in Hermosillo, Mexico and the next year, in his first African posting, he was assigned to the embassy in Lusaka, Zambia as consul.</p>

<p>Heflin was recalled to Washington in 1995 as desk officer for Rwanda and Burundi and two years later to be the coordination division officer in the Bureau of Consular Affairs.</p>

<p>In 1999, Heflin was again posted overseas as a consul in the embassy in London, United Kingdom, staying there until 2004, when he returned to the USA to work as Deputy Director for the Office of West African Affairs. While in that post, Heflin worked as acting Director for a time.</p>

<p>Heflin returned to Mexico in 2009 to work as principal officer and Consul General in Nuevo Laredo. Heflin left Mexico for another stint in Washington in 2012, when he started as the managing director of the Consular Affairs Visa Office. He remained in this post until he was nominated for the ambassadorship for Cape Verde in June 2014.</p>

<p>Heflin testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in July 2014 and was confirmed by Senate voice vote as the United States Ambassador to Cape Verde on the 12 December 2014. He begun his duties in Praia on 29 January the next year. Heflin presented his credentials to Jorge Carlos Fonseca, the President of Cape Verde on 5 February 2015.</p>

<p>Heflin left the post in early September 2018 and was succeeded by Marissa Scott as chargée d'affairs and in 2019 by Jeff Daigle, the new Ambassador. Heflin serves as Minister-Counselor for Consular and Consulate Affairs in Mexico, overseeing the nine American Consulates in the country.</p>

<p>On July 29, 2014, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee held a hearing on the nomination for career Foreign Service officer Donald L. Heflin to be the next U.S. ambassador to Cabo Verde, also known as the Cape Verde Islands. It would be the first ambassadorial post for Heflin.</p>

<p>The son of Walter and Alice Heflin, Heflin was born in Leesburg, Virginia, but grew up in Huntsville, Alabama, graduating from Butler High School in 1976. He attended Birmingham-Southern College, earning B.A. degrees in political science and religion in 1980. He went on to law school at the University of Alabama, graduating with a J.D. in 1983.</p>

<p>After finishing school, he worked as a lawyer in Huntsville and Mobile, Alabama, until 1987, when he passed the Foreign Service exam and joined the State Department. His first assignment was as vice consul in Lima, Peru, serving there until 1990 when he took a similar post in Madras, India.</p>

<p>In 1992, Heflin was named consul and deputy principal officer in Hermosillo, Mexico. His first African posting came in 1993 as consul in Lusaka, Zambia. He returned to the United States in 1995 as Rwanda/Burundi desk officer and in 1997 was coordination division officer in the Bureau of Consular Affairs.</p>

<p>Heflin was sent overseas again in 1999, this time as consul in London. He returned to Washington in 2004 as deputy director in the Office of African Regional and Security Affairs and in 2006 was deputy director in the Office of West African Affairs and served as acting director for a time.</p>

<p>He returned to Mexico in 2009 as the principal officer and consul general in the border town of Nuevo Laredo. In 2012, Heflin was brought back to Washington as managing director of the Consular Affairs Visa Office, where he served until his nomination to the Cabo Verde post.</p>

<p>Heflin has a daughter, Sara, and true to his Alabama roots, is a big fan of the Crimson Tide football team. He speaks Spanish and Portuguese.</p>